Love Lessons
by Lily Anna Evans Potter
Summary: The annual Evans family dinner ends in disaster when Vernon chooses the wrong day to insult James' family. Lily inadvertently shows Petunia the kind of relationship she's missing when the sisters team up to look for James who left the party upset.


**Disclaimer: The Harry Potter Universe is owned by J.K Rowling, not me!**

**A/N this story was inspired by harrylilyjames' "Meeting the Evans Family", thanks for the permission to write it, Sarah!**

"Darling, could you please stop that, you're making _me_ nervous," Lily Evans pleaded with her boyfriend of four months, James Potter, for what felt like the hundredth time. Ever since she had told him that they'd be having Christmas dinner with her parents, he hadn't stopped pacing up and down the living room. But of course, just like every time prior to this one, he ignored her. It had been amusing at first, seeing the cocky, confident James Potter going to pieces about something as trivial as a family dinner, but now it was getting downright annoying.

"You don't understand, Lils," he exclaimed, finally coming to an abrupt halt in front of her. She was so surprised that he was finally saying something that she didn't respond immediately.

But then she said coolly; "What is it exactly that I don't understand, _Potter_?" She smirked at the look on his face; nowadays, she only called him Potter when she wanted to annoy him. It always worked like a charm.

"I'm not nervous about meeting your parents again, it's your sister I'm worried about," he admitted, blushing slightly at the foolishness of his reason for pacing up and down, all day long. Lily evidently didn't think it was a silly reason, because the moment he got his confession out, she left her position on the couch and gave him a big hug.

When she pulled away, she asked; "Why honey? Mum and Dad promised they'd tell her not to say anything cruel about either of us."

Even as she finished her sentence, a look of realization dawned on Lily's face; "Wait a minute, are you scared she's going to say something about your parents?" The look on his face was answer enough, not knowing what else to do; she pulled him into another loving embrace and murmured; "Sweetheart, I promise you; she will have hell to pay if she dares say anything out of line!"

James just nodded, no longer trusting himself to speak; it had been nearly four months since the most feared dark wizard to ever live had personally murdered Mr. and Mrs. Potter, yet it still hurt so much to think of them. It was just after Lily had agreed to be his girlfriend that he got the news of their murders, which was why he hung around with the Evans' even when he and Lily graduated a week later.

As a result her parents were fully aware that Mr. and Mrs. Potter were a Taboo topic of conversation, even so, for a moment he couldn't help but stand there, hanging on to Lily as if his life depended on it, finally he took a deep breath and pulled away; blinking rather more rapidly than necessary for the average person.

"Jamie, are you okay?" she asked gently when he didn't look at her again. She could tell he was trying hard to pull himself together; for her sake, so she just waited patiently for an answer; she knew him well enough to know that he didn't want her pity and that if she really wanted him to calm down she'd just have to keep her distance.

Even so, it was agonizing for her to watch him stubbornly holding back the tears. That was one of the few things that still irritated her about James. He always felt the need to be strong and protect her and never believed her when she told him she wanted to share his fear, pain and burdens.

She was pulled out of these bitter thoughts moments later by James' voice, it sounded shaky but determined and she knew he was ready. "Let's go, Flower!"

They had decided that since Lily's parents didn't mind magic in the slightest, they'd Apparate to her childhood home. Lily couldn't help but notice that James' grip on her hand was a lot tighter than usual. Squeezing it back comfortingly, she concentrated on her home at Spinner's End and vanished with a pop, taking him along with her.

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A few moments of suffocating darkness later, Lily and James arrived in front of the former's childhood home. Lily stared down the path, a reminiscent smile on her face. Then she glanced at her boyfriend and her smile faded. James had paled visibly at the sight of the house and was now taking major gulps, as if he was trying to drink the fresh air. She leaned on tiptoes and kissed him gently in yet another attempt to calm him down. Luckily, this time it worked and he finally relaxed. With a sigh of relief, Lily took his hand and pulled him towards the front door.

"Come on James, be strong for me, you can do this," she whispered encouragingly. Her voice seemed to act as a stimulant, because he somehow found it within himself to smile at her. Feeling confident now that he would hold it together, Lily turned and rang the doorbell.

It wasn't long before the sound of hurried footsteps could be heard in the distance. They were followed by a scuffling sound, and then the door swung open revealing the smiling face of Marie Evans, Lily's mother. She looked even happier at the sight of her younger daughter and quickly pulled her into the kind of hug only a mother can give. But Lily squirmed and pulled away, her face flushed in embarrassment.

Behind her, James tried to smile; under normal circumstances, the sight of Lily looking so mortified would have had him in splits. But now, all it had done was remind him of how much he missed his own mothers' hugs. He couldn't brood on the matter for too long however, Marie already had a similar embrace ready for him. He suspected Lily must have revealed to her mother how he'd been acting earlier that day, because there seemed to be twice the emotion in the woman's embrace than usual.

One glance at his girlfriend confirmed these suspicions, catching her eye; he shot her a grateful smile. Her eyes twinkled lovingly as she smiled back at him. Marie's perceptive mind could tell there was more to the look that had passed between James and her daughter than met the eye. Gazing sympathetically at the former for a moment, she said quietly; "I'll be in the kitchen if you need me, dears."

With that, she turned away, smiling to herself. As children, both her daughters had often been irritated by her perceptive abilities. But on this day, she was willing to bet Lily was glad she hadn't needed to ask for privacy in order to receive it.

Meanwhile, in the hallway, Lily was in the middle of a heated argument with James. "I've told you a million times, Jamie! It's okay to back down; Mum and Dad will understand if you can't handle this tonight!"

Her words only seemed to fuel his stubborn determination to contradict his true feelings. He wasn't about to admit just how close he was to a breakdown, even to Lily, from whom he had never hidden anything. It just so happened, that he didn't want any hopes of a future with Lily shattered because of one bad day and he said as much.

"No way Lils, the future of our relationship depends on your parents' approval and I won't let one tragic event and my feelings about it come in the way of everything I've ever wanted since I was eleven years old!" he snapped, hoping against hope that she'd stop arguing before he cracked under the pressure. Luckily for him, Lily chose that moment to drop the argument, apparently failing to realize just how close she'd come to crumbling his façade of emotional strength.

"Fine then, on your own head be it," she muttered in frustration, before turning away and moving towards the living room. He watched her go helplessly, a small part of him knew everything she had said was true, but on the other hand, he had always been very stubborn and couldn't just overcome such a major personality flaw in the blink of an eye.

He was brought out of his musings by Marie's reappearance; "James is everything all right?" she asked in concern. In a slight daze, he turned to look at her; "Oh yeah, everything's fine Mrs. Evans, do you need help with anything?"

She smiled; Lily really had her head on straight when it came to boyfriends. She would never reveal this to her elder daughter, but in all honesty she much preferred James to Vernon. The former not only loved her daughter to bits, but was also as genuine and sincerely helpful as they come.

"No dear, everything's ready, why don't you go and make yourself at home?" He nodded, although not really aware what he was agreeing to and followed her into the living room. Marie had just set the huge chocolate cake which would serve as dessert down on the dining table, when the doorbell clanged again.

She hurried back down the corridor to answer the door, just as James sank onto the couch and slipped his arm around Lily's shoulders. She had been chatting animatedly with her father, until the doorbell rang; now she turned to look at him, chewing on her lower lip nervously.

He could understand perfectly how it felt to be so nervous, so he gave her a squeeze and whispered; "Don't worry Lils, she won't say anything!" even though he hardly believed his own words. He had no idea just how wrong he was.

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Mere moments later, Marie returned with Petunia and _her_ boyfriend Vernon in tow. One look at her face made it clear, just how much she disapproved of Vernon. To her credit, she succeeded in making her expression an impassive one the moment Petunia looked at her, so her elder daughter never suspected anything. Lily however, didn't miss the disgusted glances her mother was throwing Vernon periodically and even she had to wipe the satisfied smirk of her face as she got up to greet her sister.

"Hi Tuney, how've you been?" she asked casually, hoping to keep the atmosphere between them cordial just for once. Her sister evidently didn't want anything of the sort, because she scowled at the nickname Lily had coined for her when they were young and snapped; "Fine, _Lily_!"

"Petunia," their father, Ryan, said in a warning tone. She turned red, whether because she was angry, or embarrassed that she'd been told off in front of Vernon, Lily couldn't tell. Nor did she really care; she had honestly given up trying to be nice to her sister, now she needed to focus on not letting James lose his temper. It always infuriated him when Petunia was nasty to her in his presence.

Meanwhile, Marie had put the finishing touches to the dinner table, noticing how tense the atmosphere in the room had become following the arrival of her elder daughter, she quickly said; "Everyone, dinner is served!"

Petunia's boyfriend, Vernon Dursley, had had his piggy little eyes trained on the feast spreading across the dining table ever since he'd arrived and he moved towards the food instantly. Petunia made to follow him, but stopped in her tracks at the sound of her sister's voice. It sounded hesitant but insistent; "Tuney, can I talk to you privately for a minute please?"

Groaning inwardly, she turned, what on earth did Lily want now? "What?" she spat venomously, knowing her parents were too busy helping themselves to hear her. It sickened her to watch as her sister gently slipped her hand out of Potter's grasp and beckoned her upstairs. Nonetheless, she followed since she was slightly curious.

Soon they reached the room where the two of them used to sleep as children; Lily cracked the door of said room open and slipped inside pulling Petunia in after her. After making sure the door was firmly shut, she turned to her sister; "Tuney, I just wanted to make sure you warned Vernon not to say anything uncalled for about the Potters. It's been a while since they were murdered but they're still a touchy subject with James, did you tell him not to say anything?"

Petunia sighed in exasperation, Lily must think Vernon was mentally challenged or something, this was the third time she'd told her about _"the poor murdered Potters" _it was really pathetic. She was brought out of her musings by her mother's voice, she sounded furious: "PETUNIA CHRISTINE EVANS! COME DOWN HERE NOW!"

She gulped; that tone of voice never boded well, what could have happened? Well, if she was getting in trouble then Lily most certainly had to come with her! With that she took her sister's hand and pulled her back downstairs.

The first thing Lily noticed was the looks of utter disgust that both her parents were throwing an oblivious Vernon. Then she realized something even worse, James was nowhere in sight. Her mother rounded on Petunia the moment the two girls reached the bottom of the steps. Lily recognized the look on her face, she was definitely furious.

"Petunia," she said in a dangerously low voice; "Did you not tell Vernon about the Potters?"  
>That caught Lily's attention, "Tuney, what did we just talk about?" she cried, also rounding on her sister. The pained look in her eyes gave Petunia her voice back; "Lily, I swear I told him not to say anything!"<p>

Her sister looked disbelieving, so Petunia turned to Vernon who was now greedily attacking the chocolate cake having finished everything on his plate. "Vernon, what did you say to Potter that got him so worked up?"

That started Lily up again; "Don't you dare call my boyfriend worked up Petunia, he never gets upset without good reason!"  
>Petunia ignored her and since Vernon hadn't had the decency to answer her question, her mother did the honors. "He called James' parents freaks and said they must have got themselves killed in an accident because they were drunk drivers!"<p>

Lily's hands jumped up to her mouth in horror, while Petunia simply said; "Well then, that must be true." That was the final straw, at those words; Lily turned and slapped her sister.  
>"How dare you! " she shrieked angrily as Petunia's hand moved up to her cheek and a moment of pain showed in her eyes.<p>

They were soon pulled apart by their parents and Ryan said sternly; "Lily, there's no need for violence! As punishment for what she just said, your sister will help you find James, whether she wants to or not." The finality in his tone left no room for argument and Lily ran to put her jacket on while Petunia gave her boyfriend a "talking to".

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"Tuney come on, hurry up," Lily urged her sister; she was really worried now, no matter how much he pretended all was well, Lily knew James had been an emotional wreck even before all this had happened and she hated the thought of him upset and alone somewhere.

The moment they were out of the door, Lily paused, in all honesty, she had no idea where James would go when he wanted to be alone and think. She turned to her sister; "Tuney I think we should split up, there's two places where I think James might be. Either he's at the cemetery in Godric's Hollow or at our home. I'll go home and look; if he isn't there I'll meet you at the graveyard! I want you to go there, alright?"

Petunia scowled, being bossed around by her baby sister like this was truly humiliating. Even so, she didn't want to get into even bigger trouble with their parents, so she nodded and climbed into her car just as Lily Apparated.

Trust Lily to give her the creepier location, Petunia thought bitterly to herself as she drove towards Godric's Hollow. Then a horrible thought crossed her mind, what if Potter _was _at the cemetery, what on earth could she say to him to justify Vernon's behavior? No matter what she had said, deep down she knew her boyfriend was in the wrong and that his words must have been very hurtful.

Just then, she arrived at the cemetery parking lot. Once she had parked she got out of the car and began to explore. Luckily, the graveyard wasn't particularly large and she would find Potter quickly if indeed he was here. Then again, she wasn't sure that was necessarily a good thing.

All too soon, she spotted him kneeling in front of two large gravestones in the distance. Even from this distance, she recognized the signs of combined shock and sorrow. She stopped in her tracks, keeping some space between them and struggling to seem apologetic. Deep down she _was_ sorry but showing it was another matter altogether. Wishing Lily had chosen to take the cemetery instead; she gulped and moved closer to him.

Lily meanwhile, had Apparated home and realized instantly that James couldn't be there, the front door was locked from the outside just as they had left it when they departed for her parents' home earlier that evening. She couldn't brood on the fact that he clearly wasn't at home for long however. Seconds later, a horrible realization hit her; this had to mean that he was at the cemetery which in turn meant that _Petunia_ would be the first to find him. Groaning inwardly, she focused her mind on the graveyard and Apparated again.

Ironically, it was at the precise moment that Lily Apparated that Petunia worked up the courage to approach James. Her nerves weren't helped by the fact that he noticed her just then.

He got to his feet, eyes blazing angrily; "What are you doing here _Petunia_?" he hissed. Petunia couldn't help but marvel at how well her sister knew James, Lily had warned her he'd react angrily to her appearance if she were the one to find him, but she'd also said that it was all a pretense and he was actually shattered and just putting on a brave face.

She was brought out of these musings by the mere look on his face. He was glaring so furiously at her, it was a bit scary. Summoning up all her courage, she said quietly; "I'm sorry James, for everything. Mum just told me very briefly what Vernon said, but I can see why it would upset you." With those words she gestured at the gravestones she'd found him near, they were unsurprisingly those of his parents.

She had to fight back a smile at the surprised look on his face. She wasn't sure if it was because she'd apologized or because she'd called him by his first name that he was looking so confused. There was no time to ask however, at that precise moment, Lily arrived in their midst. It was then that Petunia witnessed the _real _James Potter, at the sight of his girlfriend all his self-restraint seemed to dissolve.

Apparently, he couldn't care less that Petunia was still standing there; the appearance of Lily had simply burst the dam of hidden emotions. She turned away and made to leave; watching him sobbing into Lily's shoulder definitely wasn't the decent thing to do. But once more her sisters' voice stopped her; "Tuney? What did you say to him?" Her tone wasn't accusatory, merely curious, so she felt it was safe to turn around.

Almost at once, she wished she had followed her instinct and walked away. The sight that currently met her eyes was absolutely sickening. While Lily's eyes were watching her every move curiously, she still hadn't let go of James and he in turn, was squeezing her hand so hard that her knuckles had turned white.  
>Petunia pointed at her sisters' hand and asked in a low voice; "Doesn't it hurt to have your hand squeezed so hard?"<p>

Lily looked down at her hand, then back at her sister; "It does, a little bit," she responded after a thoughtful silence. But just as Petunia was about to ask why she would do something that was painful for her, her sister seemed to read her mind; "And yet I'd do this and more a million times over, because I love James and he needs me right now, that's a concept you wouldn't understand Tuney!"

Lily's original question about what Petunia had said to James when they were alone was forgotten in the stunned silence that followed Lily's statement. It wasn't long after that James' breathing returned to normal and Lily turned to look at him; "Feel better now you've let everything out, love?"

He nodded mutely, it was indeed a relief to be rid of all the feelings he'd bottled up since his parents' murders. "Thanks Flower," he whispered, caressing her cheek lovingly.  
>"Anytime honey," she answered, just as her sister cleared her throat loudly. The scene before her eyes was becoming increasingly sappy and she was certain she couldn't take much more of it.<p>

"Would you lovebirds mind very much if we go back home now?" she suggested, ignoring the death glare Lily shot at her.  
>"Can't you go by yourself Petunia?" she asked coldly, wondering how tactless it was possible for her sister to get. Petunia just gaped at her, what cheek Lily had, bossing her around like this, it was just plain wrong!<p>

Deciding to report the nerve of her sister to their parents, Petunia turned and stalked off towards the parking lot, leaving Lily and James alone near the creepy graves. When her sister was gone, Lily turned back to James, looking anxious; "Sweetie, are you sure you can handle going back? My parents will understand if you just head home now, you know."

He nodded but declined her offer; "Its fine Lils, I can do this now," he stated in a fiercely determined voice. She sighed, he was back in defense mode, it had been unusual for him to lose control like he had a few minutes ago and she should have known he wasn't giving in to his feelings because of one lapse.

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Meanwhile, Petunia was already halfway home and still fuming. Lily really had some nerve, ordering her about like she was a servant or something. She was highly determined to keep up the bitter façade, never admitting to herself that she was in fact jealous of her sisters' empathic relationship with James. The real reason she felt so angry, was because Vernon had never been as caring towards her as James was towards Lily.

It was for this same reason that it always sickened her to watch her sister and James when they were together, because she had never experienced such love and empathy in her own relationship. She recalled Lily's answer to the question she had posed in the graveyard; _"I'd do this and more a million times over, because I love James and he needs me right now, that's a concept you wouldn't understand Tuney!"_

Her sister had been right, she was forced to admit bitterly to herself; she didn't understand the concept of being there to support each other through hard times, not one bit! If it weren't for the fact that she wanted to maintain some dignity and pride, she would even admit that Lily and James had unintentionally taught her the meaning of true love and that they had shown her that her relationship with Vernon was the furthest thing from it.

"Thanks for the love lessons, Lily," she would whisper at night when nobody was there to hear her. Indeed, that was one of the many reasons she loved her sister, though her pride never let her speak her mind again.

**A/N Here's a new little story for all you HP lovers out there! Review please, people! Hugs, Lily**


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